Last weekend we got a chance to go hiking in the mountains surrounding Catacamas. We had the weekend free and so did some of our counterparts in other parts of Honduras, so they traveled out to us to spend time together enjoying nature. The original plan was to hike up the second tallest peak in Honduras, called La Picucha (2354 meters). But the plans changed when we realized we really were not in shape to make it all the way, and David got sick.
Our travel buddies were Lisa, intern with Diaconia in Southern Honduras, David, who works for Parnters Worldwide in Tegucigalpa, Joel and Deanna who are Lisa's friends from Canada, Calixto, the guide we hired to show us around, and Calixto's kids Sarai and Samuel.
Calixto used to work for the Honduran forest service, and is a strong advocate for protecting Honduras' tropical forests. Matt wanted to get to know Calixto because he is thinking about taking groups of young people on hikes. The idea would be to use this 'natural classroom' as a way to teach young people about how God calls us to care for the creation He has given us.
We hiked on "trails", or rather through the river bed which sometimes was knee-deep in water and other times required a machete to clear the path.
Other times we went nearly straight UP the mountain. Calixto said the trails were "a little inconvenient". I'd say so!
Here's Tarzan swinging through the jungle.
It is a good thing that we went on this preliminary hike to get to know the terrain and Calixto before trying to bring any youth groups. The hiking was really difficult! But we did see some amazing scenery including waterfalls and a couple species of toucans. We heard howler monkeys and spider monkeys (but never saw them). We also were able to explore a beautiful cave.
Matt is looking forward to planning some hikes with Calixto and the groups of young people. Through the Environment and Ag program there are several groups of students organized into environment care groups. Helping them get to know the beauty of Honduras could be a great way to teach them to appreciate and care for God's creation.
2 comments:
looks like something we should try to do when we come to see you or maybe Helen and I can stay at the bottom and Kenzie can can go with you guys The tarzan picture was a big hit with your mom lol
That is so awesome and I love how you'll be able to incorporate it all in to your work.
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